"You Don't Have to Carry the Weight Alone."
I went to the gym every day this week. I know, right? Who is she? Anyways, I like to use gym time to brainstorm topics to write about sometimes. There's nothing like zoning out on a treadmill to really get the ideas flowing. As I was wrapping up my workout with some weights, I remembered a really funny story. Well, it's funny if you aren't 5-year-old me.
My dad was really into weightlifting in the 90s (were all dads?) so naturally our basement was a weight room. I remember there being a bench system as well as loose weights. I don't remember if I was "helping" my dad with the weights or if I was playing with them on my own but I was picking up a large, round weight and promptly proceeded to drop the weight directly on my big toe. Ouch. Maybe that's why I get so much anxiety about going to the gym and lifting weights. I don't really remember the pain or if it bruised but I'm sure it was pretty nasty looking for a couple of weeks.
As I was reflecting on this story in the gym, I realized that simply asking for help could have saved my younger self a lot of pain and agony over my busted up toe. Admittedly, twenty or more years later I am still horrible at asking for help.
Even worse, I am notorious for not accepting help when it's offered. How many of you can relate? We have been trained that asking for help means that we are failures, that we aren't good enough, aren't strong enough. But friends, I'm here today to remind you that you don't have to carry the weight alone.
Okay, so you might be dealing with something a lot more serious than dropping a literal weight on your big toe but just think of that situation like the weight. For example, my husband is gone for basically the entire month of August. Am I perfectly capable of "manning the fort" and taking care of the baby on my own? I like to think so. But when my MIL offered to come and help for a week, I immediately said yes. Just because I might be able to carry the weight alone doesn't mean I'm willing to take the chance of dropping said weight on my foot and busting up my big toe. Picture a young child struggling to carry a large, heavy, weight. They wobble, their hands are slipping, they're clearly struggling to carry the weight across the room. Now picture an adult coming to help them carry the weight. See how the weight evens out between them, how the hands become stronger, the footsteps more steady.
This is what it looks like when we ask for or even accept help. Why, sweet friends, would you want to be the child struggling to carry the weight alone with the possibility of dropping the weight and hurting yourself? It is okay to ask for help, to accept it so that you can take a breather.
What would your life look like if you asked someone to help carry the weight every once in a while?
Friend, if we were sitting on my couch drinking coffee I would encourage you to stop carrying the weight alone. Take the weight to God, to your friends, to your family and stop struggling with the weight of all that you carry because you don't have to carry any of it alone.
When you stop trying to carry the weight alone you can free up so much energy to pour into yourself and your passions.